October 26, 2017 - Fabulous bottle of aged Barolo. Smoky aromas, mixed with dark slightly stewed fruit. On the palate, great blend of fruit and leather/smoke. Very robust and full with a long finish.
November 20, 2015 - Spectacular. Fully mature ripe dark fruit. Dense color. Very mature nose
August 9, 2015 - An amazing bottle. Best PC wine I've had. Cork was fully saturated but solid. Nose was amazing--classic old Nebbiolo with loads of leather, tar, dark fruit, just a bit of funk. Wonderful mouthful, dense, well-structured, sweet fruit across the middle and a good finish. Color was deep plum, with no noticeable bricking. Really a fabulous bottle. Bravo.
April 27, 2015 - A bit funky on the nose at pouring with no decanting that dissipated after some time in the glass. Cork came out nicely. Deep and intense color with some bricking around the edges as expected.
Tasted much better than the nose would imply. Some raisin / pruning, but over all nice balance of tannins, acidity and fruit - very pleasantly surprised. Shared over dinner and enjoyed by all.
December 18, 2014 - Showing very well. Garnet ruby with some bricking, lovely old Nebbiolo nose, lots of tobacco leaf and olive smoke in the mouth, with well-balanced acid and a good finish.
July 12, 2011 - Certainly not a dud! Any thirty-three year old wine that's still drinkable without question merits consideration in the top 1% of all wines. The bouquet was no longer a discernable quality, but the taste, many layered and still quite complex, was still quite rewarding. Ten years past this would have merited a rating in the mid nineties. Alas.
July 9, 2011 - Most tertiary, dominant balsamic note, excellent concentration and still noticeable tannins. It took almost an hour to open. Very masculine expression.
June 6, 2010 - Vini Rossi-L'Ultimo Piano (Asti Trattoria): Most of the tasters liked this wine, one of the three tasting groups thought it the best of the vecchio barolo in the flight, et the wine had its detractors. It had a red/maroon color but had a car exhaust, old parchment nose. The palate was good but most thought it declining and somewhat tight. Flavor notes included cranberry, persimmon, pomegranate, barely-ripe cherry. There was some tartness to the wine, and some tasters thought the palate was weak. I have had a half dozen bottles from this case and found much variation. At an earlier, Piemonte wine salon, a bottle of this 1978 riserva was the favorite of the crowd out of 25 wines; and the next bottle was oxidized. I thought the bottle tasted here a bit less than average in this batch.
February 2, 2010 - Well over the hill. More brown than red. Not off, just too old. Carmel, prune. very little acid or tannins remain.
October 18, 2009 - October 2009 Wine Salon (Chez Brian): Lovely palate. Wet autumn leaves, forest floor, mushrooms, still amazingly vibrant fruit, perfect balance, nose was off, told that smell dissipated.